King Charles is still hoping to build bridges with his son Harry and daughter-in-law Meghan Markle, a royal expert says.
During a recent episode of Daily Express’ Royal Round Up, reporter Richard Palmer was asked whether he thought the tumultuous relationship could be healed.
And despite the explosive revelations in Spare, and ongoing distance, Mr Palmer said he believed King Charles would still be keen to extend an olive branch.
‘I’m sure the King would welcome them back,’ the royal expert said.
‘I mean… he’s quite keen to heal that family rift. But, it’s obviously very raw at the moment and it’s very noticeable. While I’d say he’s keen to heal that rift, he hasn’t met his son the last two times he’s been over to the UK.’
King Charles and the Duke of Sussex crossed paths last months when Prince Harry, his youngest son, attended the Coronation on May 6.
Prince Harry watched on proudly at Westminster Abbey as King Charles was crowned – but Meghan Markle stayed at home, to celebrate their son’s birthday.
Buckingham Palace announced that Harry would attend the historic event but Meghan would stay in California with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Harry, who laid bare his troubled relationship with the royal family in his controversial Netflix documentary and autobiography Spare, did not engage publicly with his estranged brother Prince William and wife Kate.
The announcement ended months of speculation about whether or not the couple would be at the Coronation, which falls on the same day as Archie’s fourth birthday.
Harry criticised Charles’ parenting, said the King was jealous of Meghan and Kate, and accused William of physically attacking him in his tell-all book, which was published in January.
He also branded Camilla ‘dangerous’ and accused her of sacrificing him on her own ‘personal PR altar’.
A recent YouGov poll conducted in the UK shows Meghan’s approval rating has apparently dropped to a record low of -47, while Prince Harry’s population has risen.Speaking about the results on the Royal Round Up this week, Mr Palmer said the statistics about the Duchess of Sussex were surprising – given she’s noticeably not been seen.
‘It surprised me because we haven’t really seen anything of Meghan, so I’m not quite sure why she’s suddenly fallen suddenly to an all-time low in YouGov rankings,’ he said.
‘Harry has gone up a little bit, again, I don’t really quite know why, but the overall message is they are incredibly unpopular these days in the United Kingdom.’
